Softball

Six Panthers Earn All-Conference Honors; Lee, Crumpton Named to First Team

Apr 20, 2017

Courtesy of saa-sports.com

ATLANTA – The SAA announced the 2017 Softball All-Conference Award winners at a banquet held at Warner Park in Chattanooga on Thursday evening. Top honors of Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year were garnered by Rhodes' Christine Hume and Berry's Marie Collop, respectively. Kayla Davidson of Millsaps earned Newcomer of the Year and Berry's Cori Thiermann claimed Coach of the Year after guiding the Vikings to a 35-2 season.

Christine Hume (pictured at right), a senior at third base for the Lynx, was an unstoppable force in conference play en route to claiming Player of the Year honors. She resided inside the Top 5 of eight major offensive statistical categories including leading the league in hits (27), doubles (8), runs (21) and total bases (50). She ranked second in slugging percentage (.794), fourth in batting average (.429) and fourth in home runs with three round-trips in league games. In addition to her offensive firepower, Hume was a stalwart in the field, leading the SAA in assists with 52 while managing only four miscues at the hot corner among 94 chances.

A senior from Atlanta, Ga., Marie Collop of Berry enjoyed a truly outstanding season in the circle. She amassed a perfect 8-0 record in conference play to go along with a league-best and microscopic 0.41 earned run average. Overall, Collop compiled a 14-1 record on the season while proving to be nearly untouchable in SAA contests. Over the course of 51 innings pitched, only three earned runs crossed the plate against Collop. Among her 8 league wins, she twirled six complete games, three of which were shutouts on her way to easily earning the Pitcher of the Year distinction.

A transfer participating in her first full season in the SAA, Kayla Davidson claimed Newcomer of the Year status after a sensational season in the circle in which she was among the most dominant pitchers in the league. Davidson led the SAA in strikeouts (89), shutouts (5) and complete games (9) in 2017 while posting the league's third-best earned run average of 1.51. She recorded the second-most wins in league play with seven and fielded her position without an error to stamp her Newcomer of the Year season.

Berry's Cori Thiermann already had the Vikings softball team on a roll heading into 2017 after posting a 73-16 record the previous two seasons. The 2017 campaign, however, proved to be particularly special as the Vikings recorded an incredible 35-2 overall record that included a perfect 17-0 mark in the SAA. Additionally, Berry ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the nation for successive weeks in the polls before finishing the season ranked No. 3. Thiermann holds a bachelor's degree in both business administration and public administration from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, where she played NCAA Div. I softball for the Phoenix from 2001-05 and was a four-year Horizon League Honor Roll member.

2017 SAA Softball All-Conference Award Winners

Player of the Year: Christine Hume, RhodesPitcher of the Year: Marie Collop, BerryNewcomer of the Year: Kayla Davidson, MillsapsCoach of the Year: Cori Thiermann, Berry